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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale — the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating — has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year’s pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

This is the first year I’ve read this with my daughter. I had to do some convincing to get her to read it with me, but she ended up loving as much as I do. Seeing the Christmas story through the Herdmans’ eyes makes it new and fresh again. Sometimes it is too easy to just know the Christmas story, like the kids knew what their parts in the pageant were, without really thinking about it. And you have to love the Herdmans, who, in spite of all their wildness, truly did make it the Best Christmas Pageant Ever.